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Tag archives for insects
Just in time for Halloween, follow cave ecologist and National Geographic grantee Donald McFarlane through Borneo’s “Cockroach Cave,” where every surface vibrates with cockroaches and other guano-grubbing and flesh-feasting creepy-crawlies.
A genet, a small nocturnal animal that resembles a mix between a cat and a mongoose, was caught in a video trap hitching a ride on the back of a critically endangered black rhino in a South African park. It can be seen hunting insects that might have either been disturbed by the rhino, or attracted to it (like a cattle egret or fork-tailed drong would do during the day). A bat, (another potential source of prey for the genet), is also seen cashing in on the insect bounty. It is still unclear whether the genet is also interested in parasites like ticks on the rhino’s skin.
Earlier this year iLCP Fellow Clay Bolt embarked on an adventure to meet, document and ultimately tell the stories of as many of North America’s approximately 4,000 species of native bees as possible. In this article he shares their beauty, the challenges they face and shares what he has learned along the way to help us all learn more about what we can do to protect these precious insects.
This week on National Geographic Weekend radio, join host Boyd Matson and his guests as they climb into volcanos to look for bacteria, invent environmentally and academically friendly ways to make tea, create the largest marine reserves in the world, make tiny soft robots, swim the seven seas, survive an avalanche, eat ice cream in the name of conservation, and swim with Great white sharks.
Foodies aren’t the only ones these days swarming cities in search of the best eats: Bees also prefer to eat in cities, new research shows.
How many spiders do we really eat in a year? Can cockroaches survive nuclear winter? What’s the difference between venomous and poisonous?
The impressive array of male weaponry—from horns to antlers to claws—evolved from individual species’ combat styles, a new study says.
Why does your cat purr? What’s a stiletto snake? Check out this week’s Ask Your Weird Animal Questions.
By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM Fire Ants: Surviving and Thriving Summer is in full swing and an invasive pest is making life miserable for residents, visitors and native and domestic animals across the southern United States. Fire ants have an incredible ability to survive and geographically expand their territories…
There’s an invasive species conquering new territory in the southeastern United States. It has gnarly jaws, a formidable sting, and the ability to launch itself into the air like a bottle rocket. These insects are known as trap-jaw ants, and they could be heading to a backyard near you. Most trap-jaw ants belong to the…
A new pesticide based on the venom of a particular spider kills common agricultural pests but leaves honeybees unharmed, a new study says.
The female fig wasp has a built-in power tool: An appendage that’s thinner than a human hair and tipped with zinc, a new study reveals.
Four new species of cave insects in Brazil have sex-reversed genitalia, a “completely astonishing” discovery, scientists say.
The 305-million-year-old fossil may reveal secrets about the evolution of spider eyes, new study says.